Why would I get the 14-30, 6-30 or 6-50 supply cables?

daveo4EV

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basically the answer is:

because you already have that type of plug installed in your garage or near your garage and plan to use that type of plug as your main power source for charging your Taycan.

_IF_ you are installing “new” for your Taycan - get the NEMA 14-50 supply cable which is the default choice if you don’t check any of these boxes - and then instruct your electrician to install a new 50 amp circuit to your garage with a NEMA 14-50 plug to match the supply cable your new Taycan will come with.
  • NEMA 14-30 is a 30 amp plug for: residential electric dryers, water heaters, ovens, etc - it’s the standard plug for 1996 and later in most US building codes
  • NEMA 6-30 is a 30 amp plug for: residential electric dryers, water heaters, ovens - don’t know why porsche is offering this - NEMA 10-30 plugs were the standard prior to 1996 - but it’s a workable plug - but 10-30 was the common plug type in the US prior to 1996, not 6-30.
  • NEMA 6-50 is a 50 amp plug and commonly found with ARC Welders and Kiln’s, and some times high end electric ovens
so basically the ONLY reaons to get one of these supply cables for your Taycan is:
  1. you already have one of these plugs in your garage and don’t want to swap
  2. you can not upgrade to a NEMA 14-50 because say your main panel can’t handle 50 amps, but it can have a new 30 amp circuit
otherwise if you don’t already have ONE of these plug types the NEMA 14-50 is your best choice.

If you do have one of these plug types - the NEMA 14-50 is STILL your best choice because if you ever travel with your Taycan and pack your charger you’re going to want a NEMA 14-50 with you because these types of plugs are pretty common ”in the wild” and you’ll be able to charge at more places if you have a NEMA 14-50 with you.

If you have one of the plug types already installed, I’d recommend getting the 14-50, and then try and get your dealer to include the other plug type(s) you want with your Taycan purchase for free - cause porsche charges an arm/leg/ear/eye/nose for these supply cables as a “porsche part” - really really ridiculous pricing. So if you can get it thrown in as part of your taycan purchase negotiation you’ll be much better off, you’ll have the one supply cable for using at home, and the NEMA 14-50 for when you travel.

but in summary the ONLY reason I can forsee getting a 14-30, 6-30, 6-50 supply cable for your Taycan is because you already have one of these plugs in your garage - otherwise the 14-50 is your best choice.

BONUS: when installing a NEMA 14-50 plug - ask the electrician to use 6 gauge wire instead of 8 guage wire - incremential cost should be trivial the cost is mostly labor. why install 6 gauge wire? because then in the future if you want to upgrade from a 50/40 amp charger to a 60/48 amp charger all you have to do is swap the breaker and hard wire the 60 amp charger into the NEMA 14-50 junction box - 6 gauge wire is already rated for 60 amps. Swapping a breaker and hardwiring a new charger into an existing 14-50 box w/6-gauge wire should take less than 2 hours and is super simple. Also 6 gauge wire will handle 50/40 amp charging just fine, in fact since it’s “over-spec” it will be better and run cooler with less voltage drop. So there is no downside, only upside for a future swap to a higher amp charger.

if you have a 14-30 or 6-30 (unlikely in the US) then I’d consult an electrician about upgrading to 50 amps - you’re going to be happier long term with the 50/40 amp charge rate vs. the 30/24 amp charge rate.

if you have 6-50 - there is no charge speed advantage but your going to want a 14-50 for traveling cause you’ll find more of those in the wild. Consult a qualified/licenced electrician about swapping to a 14-50 - the cost might be a toss up between keeping the 6-50 and paying Porsche for the extra 14-50 cable - or paying the electician to swap the 6-50 for a 14-50 - if the cost is about hte same - get the extra cable because then for travel purposes you have both a 6050 adn 14-50 supply cable so you can plug into either plug you might encounter in the wild.

why did I post this?

I get a lot of questions about why would someone choose the other supply cables - so I thought I’d post a quick summary

the main reason: you already have one of these plugs and plan to use it often - if not install a 14-50 plug and don’t look back.
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daveo4EV

daveo4EV

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the difference between NEMA 14-xx plug types and NEMA 6/10-xx plug types is the number of connectors:

NEMA 14-xx -plug types have 4 connectors - 2 hots (120 volts each - 240 volts total), 1 neutral, 1 ground - 4
NEMA 6/10-xx plug types have 3 connectors - 2 hots - 1 neutral/ground - 3

therefore upgrading from a 6/10 type plug to a 14 type plug might be expensive because the electrician shoudl pull a new wire for the missing neutral to meet building code...needs to have 4 wires instead of 3 wires.

what is a future Taycan owner to do if they have NEMA 10-30 plug (common in the US prior to 1996) but Porsche ships this silly 6-30 supply cable, and I don’t want to pay the electrician to pull new wire for a NEMA 14-xx?

simple - you can simply swap a 10-30 plug type for 6-30 plug type, because the wires are the same, the wire purpose is the same, and the amps are the same - it’s jsut a different shaped plug. A new plug from home depot is less than $20 - and unless the install is really whacked, any compentent electrician should be able to swap the plug for about 1 hour of labor - so if you ahve 10-30 plug, and need a 6-30 plug - that should be a simple and reasonably cheap swap - even DIY if you’re adventurous- remember to turn off the breaker before doing this yourself, and very there is no power once the breaker is off!!!

or you can buy a NEMA 10-30 to 6-30 adapter and just use that.

in any case if you happen to have a 10-30 plug in your garage - and can’t/won’t change it to a 14-xx type plug- it’s fairly easy to adapt one 3 wire plug type to any other 3 wire plug type - cause at the end of the day they are all the same - 2 hots + neutral/ground
 
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daveo4EV

daveo4EV

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even if you have a NEMA 6-50, 6-30, 10-30 plug in your garage and now you’ve read this thread and are bummed you can’t move to a 14-xx plug type because of the whole extra wire thing - you might not be completely screwed - sometimes electrician’s wiring up a 6-50 plug type for example, might have pulled 4 wires, but only used 3 of the wires - so it’s worth an actual inspection by someone who knows what they are doing - and they might find you already have the necessary wire for a 14-xx type plug - but it’s just being unused with the current plug type.

If you are lucky enough for this to be the case upgrading to a NEMA 14-xx plug type should be very very reasonable/trivial cost wise and you’ll be fully modern for the current building codes.
 

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Very informative, thank you!

I have to say, however, after 10 years of owning plugin vehicles, the one disadvantage of owning them is that I needed to know about the things of which you speak. This is a topic area of which I otherwise would have been happy to live my life blissfully unaware...
 
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Note that if you have a 6-50 plug on your PMCC and you feel like travelling with it, a 14-50 to 6-50 adapter is trivial, which isn't always the case the other way around. For an EVSE it doesn't matter, though.

Also note that all this info only applies in North America. (I have no idea what Canada uses though)
 


wmras

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Note that if you have a 6-50 plug on your PMCC and you feel like travelling with it, a 14-50 to 6-50 adapter is trivial, which isn't always the case the other way around. For an EVSE it doesn't matter, though.

Also note that all this info only applies in North America. (I have no idea what Canada uses though)
Am a fan of 6-50 connections because it use one less wire, larger wire can be used in the same space, are normally more flexible, create less ground noise, and dissipate heat more easily.

They have two hot and one ground connection, no neutral connection because they do not provide 120V (only 240V). And 6-50 uses less copper, even if the wire is two gauges larger - a more efficient solution for a new installation.
 
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daveo4EV

daveo4EV

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@wmras is right and a 6-50 is a great choice for home charging - and yes the 3 wire combination vs. 4 wire combination is better for EV’s because the 4th wire (neutral) isn’t used by EVSE’s.

I have no problem with going the 6-50 route as long people understand they are still going to want a 14-50 “solution” with them in the vehicle for charging away from home. Now I say “solution” on purpose - that solution could be the 14-50 supply cable from porsche, that solution could be a 6-50 to 14-50 adapter, or it could be a 2nd mobile charger with them in the vehicle w/14-50 connector

for your home charging 6-50 vs. 14-50 doesn’t matter, cause you’ll get the right setup and all will be well…

regardless of your home setup however in north america 14-50 is the more common 50 amp 240 volt plug you are likely encounter “in the wild” - with 6-50 plugs being a minority - so from a pure compability point of view if you’re away from home you’re going to want a 14-50 solution with in the car to maximize your ability to charge away from home. 14-50 is simply the more common 50 amp plug and therefore in my opinion the better choice.

functionally 6-50 and 14-50 are identical and really interchangeable with one another if all you’re going to do is charge at home, and always use public chargers when you’re away from home.

but for example - the 6-50 supply cable will not let you charge from the RV hook ups at Thunderhill - they are 14-50 plugs - not 6-50 plugs - there are over 40 RV hook ups at thunderhill’s paddock - but not a single 6-50 anywhere in the area - track or otherwise - I know because I’ve looked.

also a minor consideration is friends plugging into your home for their EV - most other EV chargers will be 14-50 based plugs - so when you have visitors if you want them to be able to steal your electrons they will most likely have a 14-50 plug type - but if they are EV road warriors they will have both a 6-50 and 14-50 solution with them ;-)

but @wmras is correct 6-50 is a great 50 amp choice for home charging and the charge rate will be identical to 14-50 - and you’ll save some money on the install because of the 3 wire configuration.
 

NormF

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Note that if you have a 6-50 plug on your PMCC and you feel like travelling with it, a 14-50 to 6-50 adapter is trivial, which isn't always the case the other way around. For an EVSE it doesn't matter, though.

Also note that all this info only applies in North America. (I have no idea what Canada uses though)
For Canadian newbies, Porsche supplies a 6-50 plug with the car charger delivered with your car (Verify that with your dealer). So you simply need your electrician to install a 6-50 socket (240v/50amp) with the appropriate gauge wire to handle that much juice. depending on your panel and supply to your house you may have to reduce the breaker to 40 amps. I don’t plan to travel with the Porsche-supplied charger so I mounted it in my garage using the small mount they supply. You don’t need to buy the big bulky box they sell as an option.
 


struther

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For Canadian newbies, Porsche supplies a 6-50 plug with the car charger delivered with your car (Verify that with your dealer). So you simply need your electrician to install a 6-50 socket (240v/50amp) with the appropriate gauge wire to handle that much juice. depending on your panel and supply to your house you may have to reduce the breaker to 40 amps. I don’t plan to travel with the Porsche-supplied charger so I mounted it in my garage using the small mount they supply. You don’t need to buy the big bulky box they sell as an option.
I thought in Canada it is also a 14-50 plug unless you choose another option in the configuration tool. I had thought the 6-50 was the option and 14-50 the standard. I don’t have my car yet, but will be installing a plug at parents’ place for when I visit there. I have my Flo charger installed already in condo parking spot - I jumped the gun a little as my car got delayed to April due to contrast stitching.
 

NormF

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I thought in Canada it is also a 14-50 plug unless you choose another option in the configuration tool. I had thought the 6-50 was the option and 14-50 the standard. I don’t have my car yet, but will be installing a plug at parents’ place for when I visit there. I have my Flo charger installed already in condo parking spot - I jumped the gun a little as my car got delayed to April due to contrast stitching.
 

NormF

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I purchased a simple hook at the local hardware store
Porsche Taycan Why would I get the 14-30, 6-30 or 6-50 supply cables? C119F932-02FA-4336-9C93-C5ECE31CD275
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